Details of Reading Plume Plotter

This page should be read in conjunction with How Plume Plotter Works. It provides more details specific to the Reading version of Plume Plotter.

Stacks and buildings

Building measurements are taken from [1].

The image below shows the layout of the stacks and buildings modelled. North is at the top; colours and numbers indicate the height of the buildings and the stack:

Stack measurements

These (for each of the two stacks) are taken from [1]:

Stack location: 51.421967,-1.0163678. (The second stack is 21 m east and 40 m north.)
Stack height: 50 m.
Stack diameter: 1.15 m.
Stack gas exit velocity: 16.45 m/s.
Stack gas temperature: 200 °C.

The following values are used for albedo, Bowen ratio and roughness length. They are all specified in [1]:

Albedo: 0.2335.
Bowen ratio: 0.9125.
Roughness length: 0.1.

Emissions

The emission rates of pollutants (for each of the two stacks) are taken from [1]:

Pollutant	Emission rate per second
Oxides of nitrogen	1.212 g
Carbon monoxide	505 mg
Particulates	51 mg
Sulphur dioxide	303 mg
Hydrogen chloride	61 mg
Hydrogen flouride	10 mg
Cadmium and Thallium	202 μg
Mercury	202 μg
Other metals	3.031 mg

Background levels

The background levels of pollutants are taken from [1]:

Pollutant	Background concentration per m³
Oxides of nitrogen	26.2 μg
Carbon monoxide	150 μg
Particulates	16.6 μg
Sulphur dioxide	2.9 μg
Hydrogen chloride	N/A
Hydrogen flouride	N/A
Cadmium and Thallium	97 pg
Mercury	N/A
Other metals	N/A

Weather data

Weather data is taken from METAR reports from a local airport: Benson.

Upper air data is the latest reported by the Herstmonceux upper air station.

References

1. READING QUARRY STRATEGIC WASTE FACILITY AND DATA CENTRE - AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT. Isopleth Ltd. August 2020.